“'Oh, _you_ 'll not mention it, I 'm certain, neither will she, so none will be the wiser; and, after all, the real bore in all these cases is the gossip.' And with this consolatory reflection he left me to dress for dinner. How well bred a fellow seems who has no feeling, but just tact enough to detect the tone of the world and follow it! That's Martin's case, and his manners are perfect! After he was gone, I was miserable for not having quarrelled with him,--said something outrageous, insolent, and unbearable. That he should have dared to insult the young girl by such presumption as the offer of _his_ hand is really too much. What difference of station--wide as the poles asunder--could compare with their real inequality? The fop, the idler, the incompetent, to aspire to _her!_ Even his very narrative proclaimed his mean nature, wandering on, as it did, from a lounge on the balcony to an offer of marriage! “Now, to conclude this wearisome story--and I fancy, Harry, that already you half deem me a fitting rival for the tiresome Captain,--but to finish, Martin came early into my room, and laying a bank-note for £100 on the bed, merely added, 'You were right; there's your money.' I'd have given double the sum to hear the details of this affair,--in what terms the refusal was conveyed,--on what grounds she based it; but he would not afford me the slightest satisfaction on any of these points. Indeed, he displayed more vigor of character than I suspected in him, in the way he arrested my inquiries. He left this for Paris immediately after, so that the mystery of that interview will doubtless remain impenetrable to me. “We are all at sixes and sevens to-day. Old Martin, shocked by some tidings of Ireland that he chanced upon in the public papers, I believe, has had a stroke of paralysis, or a seizure resembling that malady. Lady Dorothea is quite helpless from terror, and but for Kate, the whole household would be in utter chaos and disorganization; but she goes about, with her arm in a sling, calm and tranquil, but with the energy and activity of one who feels that all depends upon her guidance and direction. The servants obey her with a promptitude that proclaims instinct; and even the doctor lays aside the mysterious jargon of his craft, and condescends to talk sense to her. I have not seen her; passing rumors only reach me in my solitude, and I sit here writing and brooding alternately.